Jakra tried to emit a burst of blue Origin Flames from his body, but they came out barely bright cyan and Lith's Flames devoured them before moving onto his armor.

"I don't know which one of your creations performed this miracle, but you are not the only skilled Forgemaster in this room." Jakra had no idea that it was Solus draining the surrounding world energy to have weakened his Flames and enhanced Lith's.

He just assumed that it was the effect of one of his artifacts and activated the Kingslayer armor's barrier. Thrud was well aware of the powers of all Guardians' bloodlines and had made sure that her spouse had the tools to counter them.

In the case of Origin Flames, they didn't discriminate between caster or foe, they would eat at everything they met. Hence a powerful barrier that sprung out with enough speed would produce a shockwave that would send them back against their master.

Lith cursed his bad luck, took a mental note of the trick, and then stepped back to not get burned by his own flames.

Yet it wasn't enough. The wave of fire forced him to jump to the sides, leaving himself open from head to waist.

Or so Jakra thought until his watchful eyes notice a rune where Lith feet had been until a second ago.

"Oh, shit." Only then did the Emerald Dragon notice that while stepping back to defend from his attacks, Lith's steps had traced a perfect circle and that by blocking the last lunge, Lith had thrown Jakra right in its middle.

The Earthbound array was just tier three, but tier three Gravity Magic. The Emerald Dragon felt his joints crack and had to let himself fall onto the ground to relieve part of the pressure and keep his body from folding onto itself like origami.

'I would have much preferred keeping him still while the Origin Flames burned his physical and magical strength, but this will have to do.' Lith thought while using Invigoration to recover part of his strength.

The gravity array and the use of multiple Spirit Magic spells had drained him. Jakra, instead, had yet to use a single spell. He had relied mostly on his bloodline's and equipment's powers to preserve his strength.

'Origin Flames are much more versatile than we thought.' Solus pondered while preparing her next strategy.

'Also, I don't know if this plan would have worked against an Awakened. If Life Vision revealed them the runes while you stepped back, I doubt they would have remained inside the magic circle.'

'That's a worry for another-' A pillar of Origin Flames destroyed the array and cut Lith short.

Jakra had just used one of the abilities of his Emerald Dragon bloodline, Emerald Boost which allowed him to enhance all skills based on life force or Spirit Magic.

"That was a brilliant move, little brother. When I teach that trick to my child, I'll make sure they remember your name." He said while standing up as his blade's enchantments healed his body.

Meanwhile, even though Scarlett was in an even worse situation, she fought with a fury and determination that put Lith's to shame. Xedros was a much better fighter and had greater mastery over Origin Flames than Jakra, yet he had to tread with caution.

The Golden Dragon had no equipment at the ready big enough for his new body whereas the Scorpicore was covered from head to paw in Adamant. On top of that, her tail injected a powerful acid whenever it stung and her rage seemed to know no bounds.

"You worthless old piece of crap!" Scarlett roared seeing Sedra's body slumped over the floor after the Madness had stopped working.

She could still see the small hatchling that played with her fur, the kid that she had helped learning how to read, write, and cast first magic. The Scorpicore could almost feel Sedra's agony and hear his pleas for help.

She could even hear those of all the young lesser Dragons that surrounded the Madness, screaming for their mothers or at least for a merciful death. Scarlett could hear the pleas for help of the undead children that had no idea what they had done to deserve such a cruel death by starvation.

"Sedra is your apprentice! A fellow lesser Dragon! How could you do that to him? To all of them? Aren't you Dragons supposed to treasure your family?" The Scorpicore unleashed her tier five Spirit Magic spell, Tyrannical Roar.

It manifested the aspects of all elements, using air to create a powerful shockwave whose strength was boosted by fire while water froze the target, earth locked the enemy's movements, light needles pierced their body, and darkness coated everything else.

"Lesser is the keyword here!" Xedros hurled a powerful stream of bright violet Origin Flames while activating his own tier five Spirit Magic spell, Dragon Wall.

"Dragons never treated me like family. They considered us as servants at best, mocking the Wyverns for their need to borrow the Council's strength to survive. As for Sedra, he got what he deserved.

"Back in my days, we didn't coddle our apprentices. They were disposable tools for their masters. The Council changed its policy only after the second Young Blood Revolution. I endured much worse than that!

"If he dies, it's only his fault for being a weakling." The Flames coupled with the emerald wall completely suppressed Scarlett's spell and then turned into an avalanche that threatened to sweep her away.

"His fault? He's just a baby!" Scarlett yelled at the top of her lungs as a golden pillar engulfed her, starting her final world tribulation.

She had waited for a long time for it to trigger, not knowing that it wasn't up to Mogar to do it. Only the Guardian candidate could activate the last tribulation by calling upon her with all of their might until they became one.

Scarlett's body started to swell and change, doubling its size. Her fur morphed into red scales as thick as a shield and a pair of feathered wings appeared on the Scorpicore's back.

The muzzle became a fiery slate, only her eyes remained visible along with a second set of eyes that appeared on her forehead. Scarlett's mane turned into raging violet flames, hot enough to blacken the ground below her.

"I'm glad you achieved your dream, Xedros. Your triumph will make your death even more pathetic, you fucking lizzie!" Despite her strong words, a tribulation never influenced its own outcome.

The Scorpicore may have looked terrifying, but her strength was no different from before the golden pillar forced Scarlett to assume her proto-Guardian form.

The only change was that all Guardians and all white-cored beings on Mogar had their consciousness forced to bear witness of the events, no matter what they had been doing.

"The cat finally made it!" Leegaain said, yet there was no happiness in his voice.

The thought that his old friend might still die and the sight of the atrocities that his rebellious son had committed to become a Dragon filled his heart with dread.

"A tribulation means nothing. Only the outcome matters." Salaark's voice was stone cold as she stared at the Father of all Dragons with anger.